This gift guide's intended use is multi-fold. Firstly, it can be used during gift selection for the person who unexpectedly got you an amazing gift last year, leaving you nervous to devise your own come-back gift without any guidance. Secondly, it will assist you if you wish to be the aforementioned unexpectedly-amazing-gift-giver. It may also be of assistance to you if you have been off-put enough  by a certain materialistic nature of the holiday season that you are ready for a practical solution to the problem: locally made, organic, or fair trade gifts, or even just a good way to spend a weekend besides shopping. 

Shopping in the Valley is a big part of weekend culture: Towns like Rhinebeck, Woodstock, and New Paltz swarm with small business shoppers and full restaurants, especially around the holidays. But there are some good excuses to check out neighboring towns without your credit card. Saugerties is hosting its annual winter festival on December 3, a free event complete with musical performances, horse and carriage rides, caroling, and even a visit from Santa Claus. Hudson's Winter Walk has also come to be a well-known stop for winter festivities: Performers include dancers, storytellers, and musicians, and there are carriage rides and live reindeer. Santa also stops at this event, and the shops traditionally stay open and greet carolers and walkers with refreshments. And if you haven't been to one of Commodore Chocolatier's candy-cane making demonstrations, stop by the welcoming chocolate shop on Broadway in Newburgh to learn the process of making candy canes, and leave with your own self-made cane. The workshops will run hourly on Sunday, December 3. The first workshop starts at noon, the last at 4pm. Dress in layers because the demonstration takes place outdoors as well as indoors. All events are free. Commodore Chocolatier, 420 Broadway, Newburgh (845) 561-3960.

Organic cotton bedding at the Rustic Bohemian in New Paltz

More than your coffee can be fair trade and organic. A lot of businesses in the area have been making contact with craftspeople in developing countries and paying fair prices to have their goods shipped to the Hudson Valley. Women's Work in Cold Spring is a female-owned and operated business selling crafts such as ostrich eggshell jewelry made by a women's group in Botswana and other beautiful gifts. Nectar in High Falls also offers fair trade items, such as hand-knit stuffed animals from Kenya at around $25 each. Also available are beautiful raw silk scarves from India at $36. And although they're not fair trade, the glass tumblers and goblets at the Rustic Bohemian in New Paltz are made from recycled glass. The Rustic Bohemian also offers organic house cleaning and skincare products, baby clothing, blankets, and cotton bedding. Rustic Bohemian, 10 Main St., New Paltz (845) 255-8731; Women's Work, 65 Main St., Cold Spring (845) 809-5299; Nectar, 1412 Rt. 213, High Falls (845) 687-2870.

A community collective-run fair trade coffee bar and art gallery, 60 Main sells ceramics, clothing, and jewelry made by local artists and craftspeople from countries like Bolivia and Vietnam. One of the season's most amusing gifts, however, is the TV B Gone miniature remote, which secretively turns off irksome television sets anywhere—apiece. The collective is also the only business in the area that carries Slingshot organizers, a coveted line of daily planners made by a volunteer collective in Berkeley, California. The 2007 planners are heavily decorated in doodles and each day in the planner marks a notable social-justice event, such as the dates of famous or previously unpublicized protests, birthdays of political writers, and scheduled critical mass bike rides. The last pages of the planner include pages with titles such as "Dealing With Government Repression," and a reading list that you won't find at any Barnes & Noble. 60 Main, 60 Main St., New Paltz, www.60main.org.